Ladies (And Not Gentlemen): The Bulletproof Stockings!

Dalia G. Shusterman, wearing bright red lipstick and a cropped jean jacket, and Perl Wolfe, in a leopard print top, look the part of alternative rock musicians. They talk about “wailing and rocking out” and list influences like Radiohead, the White Stripes, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Jane’s Addiction.

The only tip-off that these young women are not your average rockers are their sheitls, or wigs. Shusterman and Wolfe, Lubavitcher Hasidim living in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, are the Bulletproof Stockings – the first-ever Hasidic alt-rock girl band.

By day, Shusterman, in her mid-30s, is a part-time graphic designer and recently widowed mother of four young boys between the ages of two and eight. Wolfe, a 26-year-old divorcée, is a makeup artist who manages a cosmetics store in Boro Park that caters mainly to Hasidic women. By night, the two play gigs at various New York venues and work on writing and recording their first album, the follow-up to the release earlier this year of their four-track EP “Down to the Top.”

The band’s name hints that the musicians intend to defy stereotypes: “Bulletproof stockings” is a tongue-in cheek reference to the thick, opaque leg-wear traditionally worn by Hasidic women.